Time Warrior - Der Time Runner

Do you like time travel paradoxes that really don't make sense? Alien invasions with gun fights & blue screen special effects? How about a slow mo shot that leads to no where? Or even Mark Hamill hamming it up like no other?

Then this is the movie for you!

Strange that Mark Hamill could go from having one of the most enviable looking careers (in 1977) to being cast in low-budget junk like this. This movie would *still* have been bad if it was released in 1977. The effects are embarrassing and the script is lame. Who'd have guessed that Harrison Ford was the real future star in Star Wars?

Time Runner looks like it has been done in someones garage. The special effects are extremlel bad as is the wooden acting, with the exception of Mark Hamill and maybe Brion James. I'd recommend this to someone who wants to see a bad cheasy sci-fi film.

Mark Hamill tried hard to prove himself as a rising actor after

RETURN OF THE JEDI back in '83, but alas, the poor dope couldn't find anything that would bring him back to the same superstardom he

received as Luke Skywalker. With the exception of his truly excellent voice-over talent as the Joker in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, Hamill had to work in low-budget flix, like TIME RUNNER. In what looks like another TERMINATOR-style sci-fi flick, Hamill plays a soldier from (where else?) the future, who was sent back in time to the early

90's in order to prevent a disaster from skewering the timeline. As tired as the storyline sounds, TIME RUNNER is actually an enjoyable

piece of work. Hamill plays a less-restrained performance, going gonzo on the baddies with guns instead of using the Force or light sabers. The late, great Brion James also shines, as the head honcho of the villains that Hamill's character so truly desired to eliminate.

Let's be honest, just by looking at the cast, you can tell that this is another cheesy science fiction B-movie. The special effects won't exactly knock your socks off, but they are not detrimental to the movie, an enjoyable one for a straight to video title.

The storyline is a just a new spin on the often used time travel story. Mark Hamill plays a soldier (Raynor) from the future. He is involved in a rebellion against aliens who have taken over earth. Of course, they look just like us, but don't feel pain, and are harder to kill. Just as his future earth is about to be doomed, Raynor travels back 30 years to prevent the aliens from ever coming to power. One major complication is the fact that he is to be born in just a few days, which leads to two problems.

1) If the aliens find out about him, the baby Raynor/his mother could easily be killed, hence, causing the 30 yr. old Raynor to cease to exist.

2) Only one Raynor can exist in any timeline.

Perhaps a little formulaic, and not an Academy Award candidate, this movie is good for some mindless fun. It's a must-see for any Mark Hamill fan, as Mr. Hamill played a character more than 10 years his junior admirably.